Can it be that 4 months have passed since my wonderful September visit to Harding County? In my mind, those days of beautiful weather when the sun shone through the gold-tipped leaves of the cottonwood trees seem like only a week or 2 in the past.
But the calendar doesn’t lie. And it says 4 months.
Much has happened in those months. A work trip to Michigan. The first draft of Every Child Welcome written. Thanksgiving at our house. Oktoberfest and Black Friday editions of Camp Dorothy, helping our kids move, conducting a special needs ministry workshop in Nebraska with Katie Wetherbee, and Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas celebrations from hither to yon.
All that jocularity–and recovering from it–meant the mystery novel was neglected for 4 months.
But not any more! Thanks to a couple weeks back in the saddle, Jane, the novel’s protagonist, and her story world saw the light of day again. Opening the file took a lot of guts, because during the 4 months just passed, I’d convinced myself the novel was no good. I was ready to scrap the whole manuscript and start from scratch.
But the main thing that changed while I read through the story was my mind.
Most of the manuscript actually held together, and the necessary changes can wait to be made until the first draft is complete. With a few exceptions. Two students, whose back stories have been lovingly prepared, from Jane’s primary class have to age 2 years and move into the intermediate classroom. And two intermediate students, who are presently strangers to Jane and me, must become 2 years younger and join her K–3 classroom.
This kind of change makes my former teacher’s heart–and Jane’s new teacher’s heart–cringe.
After all, Jane and I have gotten attached to those students! But the switch has to be made to simplify the cast of characters so people like you, dear reader, will be able to follow the plot line more easily. Therefore, once today’s quota of research for a newly contracted non-fiction book is reached and I’ve cleaned the bathrooms*, I’ll be writing back story for Beau and Beck, Jane’s new students. As well as back story for their grandparents and guardians, Burt and Verna Kelly. Now, if you’re wondering why Beau and Beck live with their grandparents, you’re getting close to the heart of the mystery.
My resolve to not provide any further enlightenment about that remains unchanged.
As does the purpose of this post. Which is to keep the project in the forefront of your consciousness, even when the author goes AWAL for 4 months, and to provide tantalizing hints that will compel you to purchase the book if and when it is published.
In the meantime, stay tuned for changes to come!
*Yes, an author’s life is really that glamorous.
